Adriano Espaillat: “students across the country have started to head back to school this week. For many, school is so much more than just a…”

“students across the country have started to head back to school this week. For many, school is so much more than just a place for learning. For 13 million food insecure children, it is a place where they can rely on having a meal twice a day. Yes, even six decades after Michael Harrington published the great book, ``The Other America,'' which became a blueprint to fight poverty and hunger in America and was published by Michael Harrington during the Kennedy administration, hunger still exists in America. School is also a place that provides after-school programming that keeps students engaged and off the streets. It is a place where students are able to receive medical care during and through school-based health clinics so that if a student gets an asthma attack those first critical minutes will be attended to at a school-based clinic. Schools are so much more than just a place for learning. Unfortunately, Republicans have introduced a Labor-HHS and Education bill that will cut the Department of Education funding by $66.7 billion. These cuts will be devastating to the academic achievement of kids and students across the country.”